Under the Forever Moon
by Eponine Rose the LostGirl
Summary: Tiger Lily trusted no one. She was a fair ruler, who cared for her tribe more than anything. She shut out friendship and love, but it wasn't always so. Long ago, she did have a friend, a true friend, in the boy she met under the forever moon. But now Peter Pan is changed and sinister, and there is no trusting him any longer. But maybe, just maybe, there is good in him still.
1. Chapter 1

She bounded soundlessly through the forests of Neverland, eyes and ears on alert. Her feet moved quickly and steadily; she knew every leaf of the vast terrain. Physically, she was a dangerously beautiful sixteen-year-old, but mentally, she was old enough to have lived several lifetimes. The sharp hatchet she carried with her gleamed in the moonlight. This place, though not very welcoming, was her home, and for the first seven years she had lived there hadn't seen sunlight. Now she took it for granted, but she remembered how curious she'd been having never seen it. She used to hear about it though, from the older members of her tribe. They told how it covered everything in gold, how it warmed your body like a fire and stole its way into your soul. They said it made everyone feel lighter, the pressures of life gone as it shone down. There was always a hint of weariness and nostalgia as they would speak of it, which had made the princess believe it had been quite a wonderful thing, and she went on to learn it really was. Unfortunately for the Neverlanders, the sun had slipped away again soon after it had come, and it seemed as though it would never return.

Her long, dark brown hair neared her hips and brushed against her back, whipping around in the wind as she went along. But her headband, ornamented with two pitch black raven feathers, stayed in its place. She bent down to observe the tracks of a wild beast when she heard the slightest rustle in the brush. Neither you nor I would've been able to hear it, but she had the sharp senses of a hunter, able to detect any last sign of movement. Swiveling around, hatchet at the ready, she was met with a haughty smirk and conceited eyes of an unidentifiable color.

"Nice to see you again, as well, Tiger Lily." he said tauntingly.

Her eyes narrowed, and she pushed him against the nearest tree, holding the weapon at his throat. "Princess Tiger Lily to you, Pan." His name was spoken with hatred, with an apparent venom that made it evident that she wasn't all too glad to see him again.

He held his hands up as if to apologize. "Alright, okay, no harm done." His words still held that mocking tone, though it never did leave his voice.

She could've let her guard down and lowered the hatchet, but this was Tiger Lily, suspicious of everyone and everything until she knew she could believe otherwise. Not to mention that this insolent boy was the person she hated the most.

"Yes." she stated plainly. "Harm has been done. You ruined everything, you demon."

"Now, I think demon is too strong a word, don't you? I mean, I'm not evil."

"That is a matter of opinion." She really didn't think he was completely evil, but she saw that he was an entirely different person from the child she had met years before. Then she realized how uncomfortably close his face was to her own, and she backed away, taking the hatchet with her.

"Till next time, Princess." And then he was off. The way he said it, full of conceited insincerity, made her skin crawl. She was royalty, and he nearly made a mockery of this. She continued on, though he stayed in her mind. Peter. Of course, she hadn't actually called him that in ages, but she used to, in the early days of sunlight in Neverland. And besides, the boy she was thinking of wasn't the proud, sinister one she had just encountered, but the boy who had been her truest friend. That is, until he betrayed her in a way she never thought he would. Soon, she slipped completely under, falling victim to her memories.

_She was seven. Actually, truly seven. You see, in Neverland, one only ages until the soul is ready to stop. Some stay infants for all eternity, and others grow to be old and gray and withered. So of course, Tiger Lily was still growing._

_ "You must not avoid the nature around you, but become part of its labyrinth. Do not avoid the patch of trees, but weave through them, as an animal would. That is how one finds their tracks." her father, the chief, spoke to her with his placid voice. He had always wanted a son, but was only graced with his daughter before his wife died in childbirth. A noble man, he refused to remarry, and gave all of his teachings of hunting and warfare to his Tiger Lily._

_ On the receiving end, the girl listened well, a fairly quiet person. It was another thing she had learned from her father: one must speak only when it is vital. She was lanky and muscular, never quite fitting in with the girls of the tribe, and far outdoing the boys. They had forbid her to join in on their games of war only because she could beat them all. But she liked it better this way, with just her father and the silence of the woods._

_ Then she heard the rustling of movement, and set off sprinting after the creature. She wasn't nearly so soundless as she was all those centuries later, but she was still highly skilled, and, above all, fast. She caught up to her prey in no time, tackling it to the ground and instinctively pulling out her hunting knife when she realized that she had hunted a boy, a quivering, squirming boy. She stared at him with intense focus, this boy with the pale skin and light hair. How had he gotten here?_

_ "Please." he gasped with fear, and it was enough to bring Tiger Lily back to the real world, so she got off of the poor thing. She offered her hand to him, and he took it warily._

_ "Where am I?" he asked, whispering._

_ "You are in Neverland." she replied, back straight and regal. "Why are you whispering?"_

_ Her father approached then, seeming interested in the boy, but he didn't speak. He simply let the young stranger explain._

_ "I was hiding in the Kensington Gardens, after lock-out time, and these... these fairies found me. They picked me up and carried me here, a whole swarm of them! I finally was rid of them when they dropped me in the forest, but I must whisper for fear that they will find me and kill me, or something terrible!"_

_ The chief nodded. He knew of the sneaky and barbaric ways of the fairies. Tiger Lily, on the other hand, decided that it was vital that she say, "Kensington Gardens? Where is that?"_

_ "London, England."_

_ She had never heard of any England, and she looked up at her father for further explanation. "He is a mainlander." the man said, sounding confused about it all._

_ A mainlander in Neverland? Such a thing was unheard of, with the exception of her tribe, of course. They had reached this place when a mysterious bean plant was found in their village, and one of its beans opened a portal that sucked them through it. But being carried in by the fairies, that was new altogether._

_ "What is your name?" the curious girl asked._

_ "Peter." he replied. After a moment's pause, he remembered his manners and asked, "And yours?"_

_ "I am Tiger Lily."_

_ "Tiger Lily?" Peter clearly thought the name was odd, as the girl thought his was just as strange. "Well, Tiger Lily, why is it so dark? I've been traveling a long while, and it should be morning by now."_

_ "It is always dark here. The sun never shines. I've never even seen it."_

_ "Never?" he was incredulous._

_ "Never."_

_ "So... we're standing under a forever moon?"_

_ "Yes, I suppose we are."_

_ Now the chief broke his silence. "You have nowhere to go?" Peter shook his head, and he continued. "Then you may stay with our people. I am their chief. If I accept you, then they will as well."_

_ "Thank you, sir." the boy said gratefully. Then the three walked off to the native encampment, now a home to them all._

Hearing the sound of another unsuspecting animal, she was shaken from her reverie and went of on the trail once again, trying to push thoughts of her former friend far from her mind.

**A.N.- Hey Oncers! I was REALLY excited when it was announced that Peter would be on the show, and, since we just got our first look at him in the premiere (which was AMAZING!), I decided to write a Peter + Tiger Lily fic because I ship them more than Peter + Wendy in the first place (I know, go ahead, shoot me). Please tell me what you think of this fic, because reviews make me happier than "rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers". Haha, references!**


	2. Chapter 2

The morning sun rose, only reminding Tiger Lily of her flashback to the days of the first forever moon. As she emerged from her hut, one of many in the village, she seemed to miss the golden light more than she had in a long while. On the inside, she was full of longing, but on the outside her expression was unreadable as ever. In the many years she had spent in Neverland, she had learned to cloak her emotions, so as not to be hurt. So people couldn't take advantage of her feelings.

"Good morning, Tiger Lily." Pine Sap, the closest thing she had to a friend piped up. He was small and spindly, and somewhat misshapen, but he tolerated her intimidating tendencies. He treated her as an equal, not groveling at her feet as the other members of the tribe often did. He had known Tiger Lily for a long time, since the two were small children. The difference between him and others was that he was fine and used to doing most, if not all, of the talking.

"Hello." The word was plain and distracted, not truly there, but the boy shook it off. He was accustomed to such.

Tiger Lily set off toward the fire, where the women joined to break their fasts and weave. Pine Sap often joined her, forsaken by the young men, but she never spent much time there in the first place. She had no patience for weaving; her hands weren't dainty and nimble, and they never would be.

"Good morning, Princess." She was met with the usual greetings as she sat down. They all respected her, but none accepted her. Those words were two different ones entirely. She nodded at them in acknowledgement and started eating her soup halfheartedly. It was like any other morning, until there came a rush of voices and panting breath.

"Princess!" one of the best warriors in the tribe ran up in alarm. "It's the Bog Dwellers. They've come with all of the warriors at their disposal. They're going to attack!"

Tiger Lily's heart began to beat faster by the second, the threat of attack putting her on edge. The Bog Dwellers had been rivals of her own tribe - the Sky Eaters - for as long as anyone could remember, but never had they posed such a threat as this.

"Prepare the others." she commanded, voice steely and tight. "Do not go into battle until I am there to lead you."

"Lead us? But Princess-"

"I will lead you into battle. There is no exception." The looks she got from her people showed that they had never respected her more. She lead them like a true ruler, with the true heart of a chief disguised by the figure of a girl.

Using her cat-like agility, she ran to her hut, grabbed her hatchet, her bow and her arrows, and darted to the battlefield. Taking her place in the ranks, she stood strong right through to the moment the Bog Dweller's army was staring hers in the face. They stood there, face-to-face, until one arrow was fired. There was a split second where they all stood staring at the bold princess who had fired it, and then the two forces collided, a mess of arrowheads and savage yells. Tiger Lily was in the middle of it all, putting her life in danger for the good of her people. Her heart was beating tremendously, threatening to jump out of her chest altogether. Of course, she would never dare show any signs of fear, so she steadied her breathing and assured herself that this was not a battle. This was a hunt, and the Bog Dwellers were her prey. It might seem like a foolish form of assurance, but it worked exceedingly well.

The battle then proceeded as follows. The girl fired volley after volley of arrows, slashing wildly with her hatchet if anyone got close enough. Men were falling all around her, some Bog Dwellers and some Sky Eaters. She remained the only female on the battlefield, and probably the only one who would be let on the battlefield anyhow. The women and children were all hiding in the huts farther back in the village, their screams able to be heard even in the heat of the fighting. She had to protect them. It was her job as their sole leader, as their source of strength. She kept that thought in mind as the blur of warriors went by, in and out of her vision. Then she felt a sharp, demanding pain at her shoulder that brought her to her knees in agony. She was then hit in the head with blunt force, and she lay weakly on the ground, still trying to get her bearings. The Sky Eaters around her went into a frenzy, making a barrier around the girl with the foreign arrow in her arm and the daze of being hit with a war club. They were as willing to protect and serve her as she was willing to do the same for them. Then they formed an unspoken strategy: men with hatchets drove the enemy back and the bowsmen handled the rest. Finally, with this plan, they were able to send the Bog Dwellers away from their home. At first, cries of victory sounded as the women and children ran to the valiant warriors, but they soon faded as they caught sight of their princess.

Tiger Lily was quickly falling out of consciousness, though fighting it as one would expect. But one can't hold off such things forever, and so her eyelids closed and her world went black.

**X-X-X-X**

When she woke, she was in the hut of the tribe's medicine man. A poltice of maize was expertly applied to her arm, and a cloth with cold river water on her forehead. River water, however, does not cure headaches.

"You are awake." the medicine man, Shaka, said with a smile. He was a gentle man, with a quiet, caring countenance. In other words, he was the perfect person to aid the sick and wounded of the tribe. "How do you feel?"

"How many casualties were there?" she asked solemnly, not bothering to answer his question.

"Princess, please, do not worry yourself with such things yet."

"How many casualties?"

The man's face was serious, sad. "Almost one hundred."

Tiger Lily bit her tongue with self hatred. She had failed. She had failed to protect them.

**A.N.- Hey there! I hope you like this chapter. If you've ever read **_**Tiger Lily **_**by Jodi Lyn Anderson, you'll get the references to that book used in this chapter. Till next time!**


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